Why are babies Christened/baptized?

Question

Baptism is for the remission of sins. It is a spiritual "rebirth" where a person can be cleansed of all their previous sins. Why are babies baptized when they are too young to be accountable to any sins they may commit? (This is asked in all sincerity)

To be more specific, why must they be baptized as a baby? Wouldn't it be more practical to be baptized when you realize what you do is a sin?

Answer 1

So they can get their hooks in them while they can't say no.

Answer 2

As some previous posters said, Baptism gets rid of original sin. That's a part of our human condition because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve. When babies are baptized, the stain of original sin is removed. Also, Baptism serves as a rite of initiation into the Church.

Answer 3

Baptism is for the remission of sins - NO
baptism is the required public declaration of faith in Christ called for by God - the only non baptized Christian mentioned in the Bible is the thief on the cross who believed

Baptism has no power whatever to cleanse people of their sins. Only the blood of Christ does this.
Baptism is the outer physical acknowledgment - the declaration - that a man or woman believes in the salvation effected by the death and resurrection of Christ

the baptism of infants in history was done when the priests thought baptism itself was capable of salvation - it is not now and it was not then.

as the Phillipian jailer asked Paul "what must I do to be saved?" and the answer was "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be baptized" that requires belied in verbalized propositions - as babies can not cogitate - this is impossible for them, hence only adult baptism has any realistic meaning.

Answer 4

Many people believe that children are born in sin and they carry "original sin" or the sin of Adam. They believe that this must be removed as quickly as possible. However, the majority of people believe that a child cannot sin until they are able to determine and distinguish between right and wrong. This normally happens between the ages of 6 and 10. My faith will not baptize a child until they are 8.

Answer 5

There may be very little change in baptism among those 2 church buildings. They each suppose what the actual Christian Church has believed and taught for two,000 years. Except that the Orthodox deliver the sacrament of Confirmation while. Unauthorized artifical denominational church buildings headquartered ago few hundred years of path have badly warped perspectives in this field (as illustrated through posts beneath). When must the youngster be baptized? "As quickly as feasible" is the common generality. "Within a few months of delivery" is the traditional agenda. In the intervening time, do not fear an excessive amount of approximately the probability of an blameless youngster loss of life earlier than baptism. Even although Jesus evidently stated that nobody might input the dominion with out baptism, what we all know of our loving and merciful God leads us to suppose that He does no longer ship blameless youngsters to hell, although the last vacation spot of such youngsters has no longer been exceptionally discovered.

Answer 6

In the Catholic tradition, babies are baptized to remove Original sin, which the Catholic church teaches we are all born with due to Adam & Eve's fall from grace.

I don't believe this stuff any more, but I was loosely raised Catholic and that what I was taught.

Not all religion practice infant baptism. In fact, I think this issue may be one issue that people have been killed, maimed and/or persecuted over.

Answer 7

Baptism is one of the Seven Sacraments of the Christian Church; frequently called the "first sacrament", the "door of the sacraments", and the "door of the Church".


We are reborn from the state of slaves of sin into the freedom of the Sons of God. Baptism incorporates us with Christ's mystical body and makes us partakers of all the privileges flowing from the redemptive act of the Church's Divine Founder.



Baptism not only washes away sin, it also remits the punishment of sin.


Another effect of baptism is the infusion of sanctifying grace and supernatural gifts and virtues. It is this sanctifying grace which renders men the adopted sons of God and confers the right to heavenly glory.


Finally, baptism, once validly conferred, can never be repeated.

When the Redeemer declares (John 3) that it is necessary to be born again of water and the Holy Ghost in order to enter the Kingdom of God, His words may be justly understood to mean that He includes all who are capable of having a right to this kingdom. Now, He has asserted such a right even for those who are not adults, when He says (Matthew 19:14): "Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come to me: for the kingdom of heaven is for such." It has been objected that this latter text does not refer to infants, inasmuch as Christ says "to come to me". In the parallel passage in St. Luke (18:15), however, the text reads: "And they brought unto him also infants, that he might touch them"; and then follow the words cited from St. Matthew.


We believe that baptism with water -- by immersion, pouring, or sprinkling -- in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, cleanses us from original sin and personal sin (and their punishments) and initiates us into the life of the Church.

It is more than merely symbolic; it's more than an expression of belief of the one being baptized (or his parents); it is a Sacrament, both a sign and medium of sanctifying grace. Baptism does something; it remits sins:


Baptism leaves an indelible mark on the soul, so one may be baptized only once.

Answer 8

In all sincerity, the penalty for sin is death, and only those without sin are not liable to die.

The fact that even newly conceived babies are subject to death proves that they are "stained" in some way by the "original sin" of our first parents, and thus are not guaranteed heaven, should they die unbaptized.

Baptism takes away all sin, and it is also always 100% effective (at any age) at making one an adopted child of God, a temple of the Holy Spirit, co-heir with Jesus Christ, and a member of the Church.

Infant baptism, as practiced by the Catholic and Orthodox churches, and even some protestant ones, is also the finest example of salvation with no works at all, as everything necessary is freely provided by God and his church, simply because God desires all to be saved.

Answer 9

Babies are baptized by their parents to show the parents intent to raise the child as a Christian. It still is a spiritual rebirth when the child acknowledges that baptism when they join the church.

Answer 10

Where does God say that babies are too young to be sinless?

ALL need to be "born again".

Rom 9:7-8
8 In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.
(from New International Version)


John 3:6-8 (Jesus said)
6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
(from New International Version)

Answer 11

Baptism is not "for" the remission of sins. It does have that effect, but that is not its central purpose. Baptism is to spiritual life as birth is to biological life. It is entrance into spiritual life, first reception of God's grace, making a person a child of God and an heir of heaven. Which is why Jesus said you cannot enter the kingdom without it.